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The fish are strange;
they spend part of their life swimming, and then
-- after their eyes roll to one side of their head
-- they spend the rest of their life lying on
their side.
"It has a very
complex life history, and that's why it's been
difficult to culture," said N.C. State zoologist
Harry Daniels.
Aquaculture
researchers began trying to culture flounder in
1994 with almost no idea of how to do it.
"We really had to
literally bring fish in from the wild and figure
out how to spawn them," Daniels said.
The Southern
flounder native to the Albemarle Sound was the
best candidate. It's the only type that can live
in fresh water.
Another strange
fact about flounder: they change sex depending on
water temperature. Researchers use that to produce
more females.
"We know that all
females grow about two to three times larger,"
N.C. State zoologist Russell Borski said, "and
this is really important from the production
standpoint."
And more females
means more fish in less time.
Now, researchers
have to determine whether the process is worth the
price -- whether it will work for farmers and
whether consumers are willing to bite.
"It does have
really high value because it's cultured," Daniels
said. "It will have high quality. We could sell
them live and year-round."
If everything goes
as planned, the cultured flounder could make it to
market within two to three years.
The idea may not be
for every farmer. It would take $500,000 to get
started, and it's a pretty complex crop to raise. |
